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The Watering Hole: Wednesday, 1/11/12: And the Winner is…..

When I think of the commentary on the major networks as they announce the results of the primaries…trying to make the inane exciting…stretching on and on and on and on and… well, you know…. filling the time as they wait for those last few precincts to report (are there some precincts that delay reporting just to mess with the networks?) I am reminded of that most famous of all horseraces:

“Despite a relatively brief scientific career, Nicholas Steno’s work on the formation of rock layers and the fossils they contain was crucial to the development of modern geology. The principles he stated continue to be used today by geologists and paleontologists.”

Want to watch/listen to something different?
Try Thom Hartmann’s Monday show from Iceland, where he interviews politicians there and compares their political problems and party ideologies to the US. (Due to technical problems, push the slider over to about the 20 minute mark, when the show starts. The audio has a hiss, but gets better.)
I couldn’t get around to this Monday evening, as I was otherwise preoccupied with a certain football game, and when I saw this morning that Karl Frisch had subbed for Thom yesterday, I checked Thom’s regular site to find out why. Very interesting program.

Last night I started working on an intervention for a young woman I work with, who might just be amenable to reason. I need to put together a list of specific plans he has outlined to destroy the network of protection the country built in the 20th Century. I hope to get her in a non-confrontational conversation and present her with specifics. “He’s a racist” is not going to help.

Where does he really stand? This interview won’t clarify – Paul talks about “transitioning” from SS and MediCare yet has no real plan on how that would successfully be accomplished. Paul attempts to soothe us with (paraphrasing) No one would be thrown out into the streets or not have medical care. Sounds as if he’s expecting the young people (who have ‘opted out’ of SS) to take care of the elderly…
(doesn’t make sense to me)

On last night’s Daily Show, the moment of Zen shows a young man making a call for the Romney campaign. At first, I thought that I recognized the man’s voice, then I saw his face. He looks and sounds just like the person that was managing the local office for the Joe Sestak campaign in 2010. I’m not 100% sure this is the same person. It’s the voice that makes me think it is the same person. The physical appearance is similar, but that voice is recognizable.

You’d think there was no other news happening for the past two days and even into today except for the NH primary. With 24/7 news, I don’t understand why one topic must dominate the airwaves. I can’t stand to hear that much repetition about anyone, much less the rethuglicans.

A country that is so wrapped up in itself that it needs to have perpetual elections that are indistinguishable from reality TV shows is going to be ignorant of what is happening elsewhere that *is* of great importance – certainly was an important day to 100 Syrians

A country that is as ignorant and as powerful as the United States….. it will blunder about and continue to cause great distress at home and abroad until it collapses under it’s own weight.

Sorry, listened to too much news which seemed to only about the national idiocy called the American presidential election campaign.

I’m going to hang this evening with a friend of mine who just spent a blissful month in Canada and hope some of the laid-back pragmatism of that wonderful country will rub off on me,

I was watching Mitt Romney’s winner’s speech attacking Barack Obama last night and it’s just an observation, but with all of the Romney signs being held up behind Romney last night, I noticed how they all made a very WHITE backdrop to Romney. And I wonder how intentional that was or if I was just reading too much into it? Subliminal message or not? What do you think?

Not many – since they are considered cursed as the children of Cain if you beleive what Joe ‘trust me God says we have to have sex’ Smith says he read on his ‘golden tablets’. That’s why they kept black people out of positions of authority in the Mor(m)on church until 1979.

Over to you Mitt for comment…. you were a member of an apartheid regime until 1979, how do you want to explain that to minorities as you pander for their vote this year?

I always was of the impression that it had something to do with BYU football, that it was hard to win without black dudes on the team so God told the LDS HMFIC that Joe Smith didn’t have it quite right, that just because they were children of Ham and descendents of Cain (or however that went), it didn’t mean they shouldn’t have a shot at fielding a winning team.

My observation about the second tier candidates attacking Romney by tell the truth about Romney’s involvement with Bain Capital indicates to me that REpublicans actually know the truth, they just never seem to tell it unless it can benefit them in some way…. the rest of the time, they dissemble.

The only reason that Romney looks strong is because he doesn’t have any real competition on the Repub ticket. All the Repubs have been flipping and flopping and Romney has the biggest bank roll. It will be different when Romney comes up against Obama who has money and all the ammunition that Romney has been providing such as “corporations are people… I love to fire people” and the fact that Romney wants to destroy Social Security. The Repubs have nobody of any real substance to run against Obama.

I was just reading about that. I kinda wish that he had put more emphasis on the fact that our previous warming occurred during a 100 year low in solar output. I have a feeling that the deniers will point to this, if they bother reading it, as “proof” that the sun is causing the warming. Warming which they, ironically, have refused to acknowledge.

Rick Sanitation’s much-lauded granddad who left Italy to come to the US and start a new life …. was fleeing the same fascist, intolerant, theocratic, homophobic atmosphere in Italy that his grandson wants to recreate in the US….

Germany, lowest unemployment in 20 years, growth still kicking along – exports going wild, f**king good cars, great beer, educated and worldy people, Der Mannschaft beats England everytime they meet now with interesting & exciting football ….. you mean we shouldn’t try to be more like Germany?

Re: solar power, they are buying up the entire manfuacturing capacity of the two US plants manufacturing solar shingles. All new high rise construction is utilizing this technology to minimize electrical needs for theit heating and power needs.
This is an area that our present administration has largely ignored!

My question of Ron Paul is, “how many paces behind you does your wife have to walk?” Look at his face and look at him pointing his finger. Bet he does the same thing at home. Finger pointing is a habit, a bad and nasty habit.

Must laugh at the conundrum facing the GOP clown car members as they bash Romney for what he did at Bain and then see the backlash from the GOP establishment “Don’t bash Romney for being a corporate raider, that’s what we do!”

Under a Paul presidency the departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce and Interior would cease to exist. Their elimination would slice about $179 billion from the federal budget and cut about 134,000 federal jobs.

Paul would slash funding for the remaining departments, including a 40 percent cut for the Food and Drug Administration and a 30 percent budget reduction for the EPA. The Department of Defense would see $832 billion disappear from its budget during Paul’s first term in office, most of which would stem from Paul’s plan to end all foreign wars and foreign aid.

*all* – let’s start with stopping sending tear gas and rubber bullets to Egypts military and police and cluster bombs to Israel. Actually any country that kills it’s own people or people it claims owenshership of the territory of – stop sending them shit, end-of-story.

The old woman draped with a flag was very condescending and insulting to the Occupy representatives. I have to disagree. There was only one side speaking intelligently and that was the Occupy side. Once again, the Tea Bag Party representatives sounded stupid. Did I expect something different? I was hoping but the truth eventually comes out into the open.

I have what I regard as a really weird question, but I’ll ask it anyway. How should one respond when his sis-in-law asks him if he wants some of his recently deceased brother’s “cremains”? I don’t wish to hurt anyone’s feelings, but have never been one to covet any remains other than memories. Anyone have any experience in such matters?

I dumped my portion of Dad’s cremains in our favorite trout stream where we spent much joyous time together. I’ve left instructions for my cremains to be dumped in the same place. I don’t think there will be any postmortem joining of souls, or anything like that, I just like the idea of my nutrients going to a good cause.

My friend Sandy had to deal with this when her cousin put some of Sandy’s much beloved father’s cremains in her hand, saying she thought Sandy would want them.

Rather than knocking the crap out of her cousin for such an unbelievably insensitive move, Sandy calmly told her to put them with the others strewn across his land in the CA desert — and that’s where ALL of his cremains better be, because that’s what he wanted.

I think “no, thank you” is a great response. Why do people do this kind of thing anyway?

Here’s what seems to me to be a very well-researched and well-written review of Chris Matthews’ (Hardball) recent book on JFK. The reviewer wasn’t terribly impressed, and assuming his critique is accurate I can sure see why.

What I liked about it was that it contained a lot of information from other named sources — useful information to anyone interested in the details of JFK’s undercurrents. That he didn’t think much of Matthews’ book was of secondary interest to me. Having listened to Matthews hype his book on Hardball for several weeks now, I had begun to assume it wasn’t what I hoped it might be, and DiEugenio confirmed my suspicions. Also, I did appreciate the length — it wasn’t hollow, it was informative. Not a typical review; with that I agree.

I think Tweety just doesn’t know how to handle a format where he doesn’t have anyone to talk over. I appreciate his willingness to go for the kill when he smells blood but I find him almost intolerable. At his best he’s a useful idiot. At worst? He’s just an idiot who loves to hear himself talk.

Sort of weird. Willard’s grandpa left America of his own free will to avoid US law. His dad came back for his own reasons but George was definitely born in Mexico. If folks want to find religious reasons for why a President isn’t a Christian, the Romney clan has a 3 generation history of just that. Mormons aren’t Christians anymore than Muslims are.

Hmmmm. Drawing on my own dark sense of humor, Reichwing paranoia, and a tongue firmly planted in cheek; I would suggest “an obvious threat”. It has a nice ring to it. “Our next guest is Faiz Shakir, an obvious threat”.

I would just love to get stuck on an elevator with James O’Keefe. I wouldn’t even be a bit upset that my long record of nonviolence would come to an abrupt end. If the little worm wants to commit crimes on his own? I don’t care as long as he doesn’t hurt anyone. But said little worm puts his friends up to doing his dirty work.

I wonder if he went to New Hampshire himself. Because if he did, that would be a violation of his parole. He needs a judge’s permission to leave the state of New Jersey. Maybe that’s why he had his friends do it. I can’t see a judge giving him permission to do something involving another state’s primary. He has no right to go there that the judge would have to respect.

And, as much as I believe in non-violence, too, I’ll be glad to get on the elevator with you two and hold him down for you.

Maybe we could both hold him down and enlist some petite, progressive, lady to kick him in the ribs? Somehow that sounds more appropriate than just punching him in the throat and laughing while he gasps for air.

Diane Black, one of the House Republicans sponsoring a resolution complaining about President Obama’s recent recess appointments, issued a press release with the following two lines:

“I hope the House considers my resolution as soon as we return to Washington so we can send a message to President Obama.”

And:

“[The NLRB appointee] names were only put forward on Dec. 15, a mere two days before the Senate recessed for the holiday.”

So … the House wasn’t in town and the Senate had recessed for the holiday, but it’s an outrage to the Constitution that Obama made a recess appointment, and just as soon as Diane Black gets back into town from her non-recess and Republican leadership stops blocking anything from getting done, the House is going to register its outrage over this abuse. And, while Black claims that the recess appointments are “an affront to the Constitution … [that] doesn’t pass the smell test,” in fact, as David Waldman notes, “the outrage fails the old ‘show me in the Constitution where it says you can’t do that’ test,” since the Constitution says nothing about how long a recess has to be for recess appointments to be made.

If Republicans had any brains they’d realize just how fucking stupid they really are.